GOVERNANCE NOTES JUNE 2019 No.17 FOSTERING IMPACTFUL CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT Prepared by Ann-Sofie Jespersen, Marco Larizza, and Berenike Laura Schott, Governance Global Practice Research on citizens as drivers of change and recent reports this broad-based, holistic approach to citizen engagement is in from the World Bank can inform its citizen engagement part its link to improving governance. As outlined in WDR 2017, mandate. This Governance Note seeks to contribute to effective governance is key to achieving development goals, and improving the World Bank’s entry points for citizen engagement citizen engagement can help strengthen both. by operationalizing findings on social organizations from the As guidance for teams, in 2014 the Bank developed a World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law strategic framework for mainstreaming citizen engagement (WDR 2017) and Citizens as Drivers of Change: How Citizens in its operations (World Bank Group 2014). It outlines a basic Use Human Rights to Mobilize, Effectively Engage with the rationale for mainstreaming citizen engagement to improve State and Promote Transparency and Accountability. To development outcomes, especially related to service delivery. accomplish this, taken from the second report are three real- The framework sets forth six principles: (i) focus on results; world examples of citizens’ initiatives to increase transparency (ii) promote engagement through the operational cycle; (iii) and accountability in public service delivery. The note also strengthen country systems; (iv) be context specific; (v) make consists of a brief outline of what the Bank is doing to promote improvements that are gradual, iterative, and scalable; and (vi) citizen engagement, a summary of key lessons on what makes partner with collaborators. Conceptualizing citizen engagement external support from international actors effective, and by the “intensity” of the level of interactions with citizens is a suggestions for next steps the Bank can take to best support helpful exercise when planning practical applications (figure 1).3 citizen engagement in its operations.1 Figure 1. Intensity of Citizen Engagement HOW HAS THE WORLD BANK PROMOTED CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT? EMPOWER Promoting citizen engagement is a long-standing practice at Level of Interaction COLLABORATE Citizens hold the World Bank. Its 2014 citizen engagement mandate builds CONSULT Citizens are final decision- Obtain feedback responsible for making power on more than two decades’ worth of practical experience INFORM Inform citizens on analysis, some decisions and research demonstrating the importance of engaging on analysis, alternatives & and empowering beneficiaries, driving development from the alternatives & decisions decisions bottom up, and strengthening social accountability. 2 Many Bank teams are familiar with citizen engagement tools. Extensive Level of Citizen Participation in Decision Making consultations are conducted, for example, and grievance redressal mechanisms are implemented in the context of Source: Adapted from World Bank (2014). safeguards. Participatory planning is a central element of community-driven development, and beneficiary and third-party Practitioners of impactful citizen engagement would also do well monitoring has been an important element of the “Demand for to consider WDR 2017, which lays out a framework for improving Good Governance” agenda. governance effectiveness. At its heart, WDR 2017 asks how Added to this, evidence-based research is emerging that change happens. How do we move from governance systems shows development outcomes improve when citizens participate. that are marked by power asymmetries — and therefore often The mandate to mainstream citizen engagement spans sectors plagued by clientelism, capture, and exclusion — to governance and countries, is meant to be woven in throughout the project that truly serves the public interest? WDR 2017 shows how cycle, applies not only to lending instruments but also to Country power asymmetries between societal actors can undermine the Partnership Frameworks (CPFs) and other analytical work that functional effectiveness of policies by preventing commitment, informs Bank engagement, and is designed to have positive coordination, and cooperation. An understanding of power spillover effects on country practices. The rationale behind — the ability of groups and individuals to make others act in 1 The terms “citizen engagement” and “citizen participation” are used interchangeably. 3 The strategic framework identifies a useful list of entrance points for citizen The term “citizen” is used in a general sense to indicate a person with rights. See World engagement (World Bank 2014, 22). Bank (2017b, v) for full definitions. 2 For a summary of World Bank practice and research related to citizen engagement, see World Bank (2017b) and Lateef (2016). 1 GOVERNANCE NOTES JUNE 2019 No.17 their interest and bring about specific outcomes — and power EXTERNAL SUPPORT OF CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT: LESSONS asymmetries is essential for understanding whether policies are FROM THREE CASE STUDIES designed and implemented to support development outcomes. Key takeaways are found from three collective citizens’ initiatives Negative manifestations of power asymmetries include capture, to drive social change. Citizens as Drivers of Change analyzes the clientelism, and exclusion. three cases and outlines entry points for mainstreaming these Three levers of change can shift power dynamics in a positive findings into international development practice, including the direction: changing incentives to pursue particular goals; changing World Bank’s operations. The case studies involve: the underlying preferences and beliefs of relevant actors; and increasing contestability — that is, who participates in the policy • Community-based monitoring of schools in Afghanistan arena. Utilizing these levers often requires support from multiple • Civil society monitoring of sovereign wealth fund resources sets of actors, including elites, citizens, and international actors. allocated to education in Paraguay, with the goal of improving Acting individually, citizens may not be as effective as when marginalized schools’ infrastructure they organize to influence the outcomes of policy negotiations. Power is at the heart of citizen engagement initiatives. The WDR • Collective efforts to promote transparency and integrity among 2017 framework helps elaborate how citizens can shift power doctors and hospitals in Serbia asymmetries through collective action and social organization, informing the World Bank’s efforts to mainstream citizen All three cases focus on fostering anti-corruption, transparency, engagement in its operations. accountability, and the citizen-state interface in order to improve While WDR 2017 explains how citizens can affect outcomes in the quality and delivery of essential public services. the policy arena through social organization, it does not explore how they can accomplish this; nor does it provide in-depth Key Messages and Takeaways analysis of the strategies employed by social organizations to Detailed analysis of the three case studies reveals several effect change. The analysis in Citizens as Drivers of Change builds significant lessons that may be considered and applied in other on these gaps, drawing on literature on transparency and social contexts: accountability, viewed through a human rights lens (figure 2). Citizen engagement is a powerful tool through which people can • Collective action can shift power asymmetries. In all three realize their social and economic rights, such as for health care cases, the underlying functional challenges that spurred citizen or education, by exercising their civil and political rights. This action were driven by power asymmetries: exclusion, capture, understanding can then be used to underpin the context-specific and clientelism. Citizen-driven collective action helped shift interventions prioritized by the World Bank’s citizen engagement these power asymmetries and gave citizens a seat at the table mandate. through the sheer power of numbers. Change was brought about most effectively by strategically combining institutional Figure 2. A Framework for Analysis: WDR 2017 and a Human with extra-institutional engagement. Rights Lens • Human rights can serve as focal points for collective action. Specifically, citizens can choose to exercise their civil and CHANGING THE political rights to help realize their social and economic rights. OVERCOMING SOCIAL POLICY ARENA: The experience of being denied rights, such as the right to OBSTACLES TO ORGANIZATION INCENTIVES, COLLECTIVE STRATEGY AND PREFERENCES, health care or the right to education, combined with awareness ACTION TACTICS CONTESTABILITY of those rights can serve as motivation for collective action. Social organizations can help citizens understand that the denial of those rights does not need to be accepted but can CONTEXT: EXISTING LAWS AND SOCIETAL NORMS be contested through strategies such as collectively pushing for change. Exercising certain rights, such as freedom of Source: Adapted from World Bank (2017b, vi). association or the right to information, helped citizens in all three cases realize other rights, such as for health care and education. What is important is that the levers outlined by WDR 2017, and seen in the context of human rights, can, and often do, • Collective responsibility, as well as ongoing learning, can be involve more than one set of actors. Governments, citizens, and promoted through technology. All three cases highlight the international actors — including the World Bank — have parts to importance of citizens’ agency and voice. The use of technology, play in driving change. Looking ahead, it is important to consider where appropriate, helps amplify this voice and makes collective the timing and other specifics of the World Bank’s actions. initiatives accessible to all. 2 GOVERNANCE NOTES JUNE 2019 No.17 • Effective engagement strategies combine collaboration, supporting consecutive initiatives that build on one another. coalition building, and contestation. In all three cases, citizens They can, furthermore, provide seed funding for new initiatives were particularly effective in achieving change when they to test out new approaches and learn from them. combined creating pressure on elites on the one hand with selectively collaborating with them on the other. This could, • Build a shared sense of identity. It is important for for example, involve monitoring and exposing irregularities and international actors to engage citizens in planning and decision then working together with elites on how to address them. making, and work with volunteers to build a shared sense of Elites are not monolithic, and organizations can often identify identity among them around the cause they are addressing, interlocutors, from the local to the national level, with whom to providing opportunities for growth and learning. build bridges and collectively work toward change. LESSONS FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTORS Box 1. Example of Expanding Contestability throughout These case studies offer key lessons for international actors. the Country Engagement Cycle Based on the analysis of the barriers to citizen • Context matters, yet a supportive context is not a participation as part of the preparation of the Mali Country Partnership Framework, several activities are taking prerequisite for effective citizen engagement. The cases show place to mainstream citizen engagement and strengthen that even in fragile contexts and highly corrupt environments, participation, accountability, and transparency. Currently, social organizations can be effective. Indeed, it may be in select communities of Mali and Niger, mapping of social especially in these environments that collaboration with intermediaries and provision of capacity building on civil grassroots movements is essential for international actors to engagement approaches and mechanisms are happening. gain legitimacy and build trust in partnering with the state. In addition, a community monitoring mechanism using International support for citizen engagement is therefore highly information and communication technology is being relevant in the most difficult contexts. implemented in select projects. Sources: Author’s interview with task team leader; World • Build on existing structures and focus on grassroots Bank Country Partnership Framework for the Republic of solutions. “Induced” participation was unlikely to generate Mali, 2015. commitment and cooperation from volunteers in the cases analyzed. Effective, collective action rests on a sense of collective ownership, responsibility, and identity, which are more NEXT STEPS: ENTRY POINTS AND INSTRUMENTS TO likely to be found where participation is organic. Grassroots EFFECTIVELY SUPPORT CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT actions are most effective at generating context-specific, home- These lessons for international actors can strengthen citizen grown solutions. engagement in World Bank operations. Practical entry points for accomplishing this goal may be organized by level: macro, meso, • Create spaces to convene and deliberate. International and project or sector (figure 3). actors have an important role to play in supporting social organizations financially, but they may be most effective at Figure 3. World Bank’s Corporate Instruments to Support creating spaces for social groups to convene, both through Citizen Engagement peer-to-peer exchanges (horizontal) as well as with elite actors (vertical). International actors can facilitate coalition building SCD/CPF among champions for change across society by providing MACRO DPF Level of Engagement spaces and means for them to convene and encouraging collaboration. MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PLATFORMS • Focus on process, not “best practice.” Rather than replicating MESO a technique, method, tool, or social accountability intervention, FLEXIBLE SUPPORT international actors should support assistance that scales up IPF processes rather than interventions and solutions. PROJECT / SECTOR • Support flexible arrangements and incremental outcomes. PFORR Effective citizen engagement cannot be achieved in one-off interventions, but rather contributes to development through Note: CPF = Country Partnership Framework; DPF = development nonlinear processes over time. International actors can best policy financing; IPF = investment project financing; PFORR = support citizen engagement by increasing project horizons or Program-for-Results; SCD = Systematic Country Diagnostics. 3 GOVERNANCE NOTES JUNE 2019 No.17 At the macro level, supporting broad reforms that seek to At the meso level, enhancing institutional ability to use “power increase transparency and contestability also nurture an with” instead of “power over” includes efforts to support enabling environment for citizens’ participation. Citizens’ platforms for multi-stakeholder dialogue, coalition building, voices can be amplified by improving the macro environment. In and inclusive strategies. The World Bank has a large toolbox this regard, international actors such as the World Bank may of instruments that can be used to interface with a diverse set use their comparative advantage. World Bank instruments, of stakeholders, including relatively less formalized groups such such as development policy financing (DPF), may be used to as citizen-centric movements, possibly through intermediaries. support structural reforms as well as improve transparency and People will hold those organizations accountable which they find contestability to make headway with the enabling environment. legitimate, and “power with” approaches should strive to include Systematic political economy analysis, including assessments of a broad set of legitimate actors. When the World Bank uses a country’s specific arrangements for citizen participation and tools with an aim of increasing “power with” operations, it has the the potential influence of citizen coalitions, can be used to inform potential to create platforms for fruitful dialogue and to change citizen engagement mechanisms in the design of DPFs. the incentives and possibly the preferences of previously isolated elites. Tools include multi-stakeholder platforms for contentious policy reform, national open government plans, and macro Box 2. Example of Strengthening Incentives for reforms that increase contestability in the policy arena. As more Collaboration through Multi-Stakeholder Platforms actors enter, a more contestable policy arena is associated with A Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) more legitimacy and cooperation (World Bank 2017a, 13). grant in Bangladesh implemented by a lead civil society organization, known as Social Engagement for Budgetary At the meso level, flexible support arrangements that boost Accountability (SEBA), and its partners has successfully citizen participation may be supported by international institutionalized a participatory local budget process actors in various ways. While funding can be important to mandated by law. Using formal and informal participatory citizen participation, it can also be contentious when supplied mechanisms, networks were established with national and by external actors. In some cases, flexible funding is useful, but local government institutions, civil society organizations, what is needed even more is providing access to elites, possibly in and the media to push for participatory and transparent budget processes. Effectively expanded is who participates the context of spaces for deliberation or through intermediaries. in the policy arena. The mechanisms involved include social Other types of effective external support might involve scaling up audits and poverty mapping as well as efforts to inform activities that have shown results, or creating platforms for new local communities, including marginalized groups, of their approaches and continued learning. Of funding types, long-term entitlements and budget allocations. funding that is flexible and can be adjusted to changing situations is best for increasing the potential impact of the intervention. Sources: Interview with task team leader; SEBA project description on the GPSA website at https://www. Multi-stakeholder coalitions can offer long-term pathways for thegpsa.org/project/social-engagement-budgetary- elites and citizens to come together. accountability-seba. At the project level, organic processes are more effective than one-size-fits-all best practices. Sustainable, citizen-supported development outcomes depend on participation mechanisms. At the macro level, international actors can increase When task teams listen to organizations or loose coalitions of contestability by facilitating spaces for citizens to convene citizens working on the ground, to learn what has worked for and deliberate. As the World Bank identifies external barriers them, they can use this information to integrate relevant and to citizens’ participation and collective action in analytical proven mechanisms in project designs. The World Bank’s citizen work, doors are opened to design actions that expand citizens’ engagement mandate is being implemented on a project level. participation in World Bank interventions. Systematic Country Relevant tools include Global Partnership for Social Accountability Diagnostics (SCDs) offer an opportunity to identify ways (GPSA) grants to local community-based organizations and long- to strengthen participation and domestic accountability term engagement with platforms, movements, or other looser mechanisms. Multi-stakeholder dialogues on policy design citizen coalitions. standards are important. These may include government consultations with civil society members as part of the SCD At the project level, transparency alone will not trigger consultation process and during the CPF. Contestability and change, but ensuring that operation designs enable action on deliberation can be expanded by specifying actions in the the information provided is necessary for impactful citizen CPF, based on the SCD analysis, to strengthen dialogue and engagement. Task team leaders and teams can integrate collaboration. Such efforts might also influence government different levels of citizen engagement in their operations. The systems. so-called identification stages of investment project financing 4 GOVERNANCE NOTES JUNE 2019 No.17 or Program-for-Results can include project-level analysis of elite capture within relevant institutions — and relevant stakeholders Box 3. Increasing Contestability in Project Design to counter this — to be followed by the inclusion of results-based Since 2013, community and participatory monitoring accountability strategies to increase contestability in project and evaluation activities, as well as grievance redressal design. Citizen engagement mechanisms that go beyond enabling mechanisms, have been automatically integrated into social individual feedback to supporting collective action increase the protection and governance projects in Madagascar, with likelihood of these processes being impactful. the goal of better addressing beneficiaries’ needs while promoting transparency and accountability. A public sector CONCLUSION support project attempts to go further by systematically To strengthen their influence in the policy arena, citizens need integrating civil society organizations (CSOs) in the to utilize multiple mechanisms designed to solve collective monitoring of the project, with a focus on performance and action problems. International actors can support this process. indicators related to disbursement. The information provided Combining different methods strategically maximizes the by CSOs will then inform the triggers for subsequent chances of promoting change. The World Bank does not have the disbursement. Such an approach, replicable in any project mandate to work with or fund all types of citizen participation with a similar structure, aims to both provide “teeth” to the strategies, nor is this always desirable. But the Bank does have civil society actors engaged in the process and strengthen a comparative advantage in supporting the expansion of the information on project outcomes. enabling environment for citizen participation, for example, Sources: Interview with task team leader; World Bank through macro reforms that increase contestability. It is well (2017c). placed to create inclusive spaces for deliberation for a broad set of stakeholders, including elites, focused on long-term thematic or sectoral engagements. Based on an analysis of the political economy and different stakeholders’ roles, the Bank can take steps to address both the supply and demand side of accountability, for example, through grants to strengthen GPSA accountability in parallel with World Bank operations that strengthen the state’s capacity to deliver. REFERENCES Lateef, K. Sarwar. 2016. “Evolution of the World Bank’s Thinking on Governance.” World Development Report 2017 Background Paper, World Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank. 2017a. World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law. Washington, DC: World Bank. ———. 2017b. Citizens as Drivers of Change: How Citizens Practice Human Rights to Engage with the State and Promote Transparency and Accountability. Washington, DC: World Bank. ———. 2017c. “Madagascar — Public Sector Performance Project: Restructuring.” World Bank Group, Washington, DC. ———. 2015. Mali — Country Partnership Framework for the Period FY16–19. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. World Bank Group. 2014. Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in World Bank Group Operations. Washington, DC: World Bank. GOVERNANCE GLOBAL PRACTICE Guiding Results through Public Institutions Governance Notes captures knowledge derived from World Bank engagements and technical and financial assistance requests. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank. For more information, contact: govgplearns@worldbank.org. 5